


Love and Magic

by EternallyEC



Series: the raising of an old hope, brave and tattered [1]
Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jori - Freeform, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24589282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEC/pseuds/EternallyEC
Summary: Prompt: Tori and Jade burning something together.- OR -Tori doesn't believe magic exists, but she's willing to do anything she can to help Jade.
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Series: the raising of an old hope, brave and tattered [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125305
Comments: 9
Kudos: 105





	Love and Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This one was supposed to be a quick exercise to get myself in the writing mood, but it quickly took off and became what it is now. This is very special to me, so I do hope you'll enjoy! Please let me know what you think!
> 
> Prompt Based: Tori and Jade burning something together.

Tori held onto Jade’s hand, watching her face closely in the shifting light of the fire crackling in front of them. She was staring directly into it, her breathing slow and even, and the younger girl couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else would be able to see the dizzying number of emotions she was trying to mask even now. 

She jumped slightly when Jade tugged her hand away, smiling softly when the other girl offered a muttered apology for the abrupt action. Turning her own gaze to the fire as Jade started rummaging through her bag, Tori thought about how much had changed between the two in the short month since graduation. 

It had barely been a week after the ceremony when there’d been a knock on the door and she’d opened it to find a devastated Jade on the other side. 

_ “Jade?” Tori asked, immediately stepping aside to let the crying girl inside despite her shock at seeing her there. She hadn’t seen the other girl since they’d graduated, her texts and attempts to reach out over the Slap going unanswered. It had left Tori convinced that her worst fears had come true, that Jade truly hadn’t ever been her friend and that she wouldn’t see her again now that they weren’t forced together by high school. _

_ “Jade, what’s wrong?” she asked, gently putting a hand on her arm as she shook the thoughts about their status away. It wasn’t the time, she knew; not when Jade was looking at her with running mascara joining the tears streaking down her face.  _

_ She was taken aback when the older girl moved in for a hug, one that she willingly gave into despite her surprise. Holding Jade tightly, she began rubbing slow circles on her back as she shook in her arms. Not knowing what else to do, Tori began to hum a soothing lullaby in her ear, grateful when one or maybe a combination of her actions seemed to take effect, Jade slowly stilling in her arms but making no move to pull out of the embrace.  _

_ “Beck broke up with me.”  _

_ Her voice was tiny and lost and so unlike Jade that Tori couldn’t believe it had even come from her lips. “Jade,” she said softly, swallowing hard as she gave her a gentle squeeze.  _

_ “He--he met somebody else,” Jade continued, her voice breaking as she shuddered and clung to Tori even more tightly.  _

_ “I’m so sorry, Jade,” Tori whispered, completely at a loss for what to say.  _

_ “I’m not,” Jade whispered weakly, lifting her head to meet Tori’s gaze. Their faces were mere inches apart, neither girl willing to move. “Isn’t that fucked up? All of these years that I was so paranoid about him cheating on me and now… He broke up with me for somebody else and I don’t even care.” A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips even as she blinked back tears and shook her head.  _

_ “People grow apart, Jade,” Tori said, fully aware of how stupid the words sounded as soon as they’d escaped her lips and wishing she could take them back. _

_ “Not like this,” Jade countered, shaking her head. “I’m just pissed that he didn’t tell me sooner, Tori. I’m not even upset. I don’t even know when I fell out of love with him,” she confessed, sounding even more vulnerable than she had the day she’d shown up with a broken kite and a desperate plea on her lips.  _

_ Truly at a loss for words now, Tori just pulled her in close again and wondered when everything had gotten so damn complicated. _

And now, a month later, here they were. 

With all of the nonsense of high school behind them and a final break-up with Beck under Jade’s belt, it seemed that the older girl had forgotten all the reasons she’d been so desperate to keep Tori at arm’s length before. They’d spent more and more time together as the summer went on, and when Jade had found it difficult to move past the break-up, it had been Tori who’d suggested they try this little ritual. 

“This is stupid,” Jade grumbled, turning to Tori with a smirk on her face and a bundle of papers in her hands. 

“But you agreed to it,” Tori returned smugly, pleased with herself when Jade chuckled at her quick reply. 

“Yeah, I did,” she agreed, sounding surprised at herself as she faced the fire again. “So what’s the rest of this stupid plan?”

Tori grinned as she picked up her own, smaller bundle and gently nudged Jade with her shoulder. “You throw them in one at a time and visualize what you’re getting rid of,” she recited, the words coming almost from memory with how many times she’d read the website. “If you really mean it, the problem will go up with the smoke and you’ll be rid of it.” 

Jade rolled her eyes and huffed out a laugh. “I feel like an idiot,” she informed Tori, but there was no bite to the words and she could hear the curiosity lacing her tone. 

“You go first,” Tori said, fighting back a grin as she gestured towards the fire pit that had been put in years ago but rarely used. “But you’re supposed to clear your mind first so you can ‘feel safe, calm, and aware of your intent and power’.’” Okay, so she did quote that part directly from the website. While she didn’t  _ really  _ believe in this kind of stuff, there was no harm in being respectful of it.

“Where did you get this from, anyway?” Jade asked skeptically, the light of the fire glinting off her eyebrow piercing as she turned to glance at her. 

“Does it matter?” Tori asked, trying to dodge the question even though she knew there was no way Jade would let her get away with it.

“You’re asking me to do some weird ritual without even telling me where you came up with it?” Jade asked, eyebrow arching as a smirk grew on her face. “Come on, Vega, you know me better than that.” 

“Fine,” the younger girl groaned, looking back into the fire as she gathered her courage. Meeting Jade’s gaze again, she mumbled, “It’s a spell.” 

“What was that?” Jade asked, though the amusement in her tone told Tori full well that she’d heard what she said and just wanted to make her repeat it. 

“I found it on a site about witchcraft,” Tori admitted, avoiding Jade’s gaze once again. “I don’t really believe in that stuff, but it sounded like it might work on a psychological level. I just wanted to try to find a way to help you.” 

“Hey,” Jade chuckled, shifting the papers in her left hand to her right so that she could cup Tori’s chin, turning her head to face her. Meeting her gaze, she smiled softly and released her, tapping her nose with a chuckle. “You make it too easy, Vega,” she said with a roll of her eyes. 

“Whatever,” Tori grumbled, though she couldn’t hide her smile at this side of Jade she’d only become privy to over the past four weeks. Soft and unguarded, she was willing to let Tori in at last and the younger girl wasn’t about to squander that chance. 

“That’s my line,” Jade teased, poking her in the side until she laughed again. Growing serious once again, she met Tori’s gaze. “Thanks,” she said rather awkwardly, unused to saying the word or feeling the sentiment, for that matter. “For wanting to help.” 

“We’re friends,” Tori smiled, gently nudging her with her shoulder. “It’s just what we do.” 

“Yeah,” Jade said thoughtfully, staring into the flames with that blank expression that always made Tori wonder what she was thinking. “Friends, right.” 

“We should probably start this before my parents or Trina come home,” Tori said after a moment, stealing a gaze back at the house. 

“You mean you didn’t ask them about starting a fire for us to do a spell with?” Jade smirked. “What kind of a witch are you?” 

“Jade,” Tori groaned, shaking her head despondently. “Just try to ground yourself and do like I told you. Oh! And you’re supposed to visualize the negative emotions drifting away with the smoke.” 

“Jesus,” Jade muttered, but Tori saw the corners of her lip twitch up into a smile as she pulled out a letter. Taking a deep breath, she released it before repeating the action a few times. Muttering something to herself, she knelt in front of the fire and slowly fed the first letter into it. Tori’s eyes were drawn to the flames licking along the paper, creeping closer and closer to Jade’s hand before she dropped it and stood again. 

They remained quiet, both of their eyes watching the smoke as it lazily drifted into the sky. Once the letter had been fully consumed by the flames, Tori stepped forward to do the same with one of her own, noting the flash of surprised relief in Jade’s eyes before she broke the contact and wondering if she’d felt something. 

One by one, they repeated the process; sometimes there were longer breaks between, the emotions behind the letter too intense to be cleared away easily, and Tori found herself wondering about what Jade’s said in those moments. But with each letter, the younger girl found herself feeling lighter, freer, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the ritual was having its intended effect. 

Tori ran out of letters before Jade, and though she really  _ tried  _ not to stare, the older girl looked positively ethereal in the light of the fire, all pale skin and dark hair and she couldn’t help but think about how pretty she was. And as time passed and the stack of letters in Jade’s hands grew fewer, she found that she could hardly keep her eyes off the distracted girl, wondering if it was the strangeness of the activity that was affecting her this way or just  _ Jade _ , more free and open than Tori had ever seen her. 

And after the last letter was ash, Tori couldn’t help herself as she took a step closer to the older girl and gently cupped her cheek. Meeting her gaze, she slowly inched forward, giving Jade all the time in the world to stop her. 

Her mind screamed at her, a thousand reasons why she should stop and why this was a terrible idea. She and Jade had just spent a month building a friendship that Tori had wanted for years and the older girl was still in turmoil about her break-up with Beck, although she certainly wasn’t stopping Tori. The timing was strange, to say the least, but it somehow just felt right as her eyes met Jade’s, asking silent permission that was granted with the smallest nod of Jade’s head.

The power in the air seemed to surround them and pulled Tori in like a magnet, her eyes fluttering closed as their lips met in a soft, hesitant kiss. She inhaled shakily, pulling back and resting her forehead against Jade’s as she tried to calm herself. 

She had barely opened her eyes when a gentle hand cupped her cheek and then Jade was kissing  _ her _ , and any and all doubts that Tori had been harboring melted away in a second as her eyes closed again. Returning the kiss eagerly, Tori let her arms slip around Jade’s neck, pulling her closer as Jade deepened the kiss. She couldn’t help but smile into the kiss when she felt Jade’s arms encircle her waist, hands gripping her hips as they kissed.

They didn’t break apart until Tori was nearly gasping for air, neither of them moving an inch as they tried to catch their breath.

“What  _ did  _ you write down on your paper, Vega?” Jade asked after a few moments, lazily tracing circles on her sides through the thin material of her shirt. “Something about me?” she smirked. 

“You’re so cocky,” Tori giggled, leaning up to kiss the tip of her nose as Jade scrunched her face in distaste at the action. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” she softly, growing serious again as she placed her hands over Jade’s on her hips, stopping them in their movement. 

“You think this worked?” Jade asked, sounding almost wistful and oddly hopeful as she stared into Tori’s eyes. Unreadable at the best of times, her eyes betrayed almost nothing, but the younger girl would swear that she caught a flicker of hope in them.

“Didn’t you feel it?” Tori smiled softly, gently tugging Jade’s hand away so that she could interlace their fingers, amazed at how  _ right  _ it felt. The words came easier than she thought they should, all things considered, not that she was complaining. “Something happened tonight, Jade.”

Tori could tell there was a teasing response on the tip of Jade’s tongue, the mischievous sparkle in her eyes enough of a tell for her to prepare herself. But, much to her surprise, the older girl seemed to swallow it back, smiling softly as she leaned in for another kiss, short and sweet this time. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I did.” 

They shared another kiss, this one soft and sweet but threatening to turn into more before Tori pulled away reluctantly. “We’d better get this put out,” she said, surveying the dying fire with a look of disapproval. All things considered, she’d  _ much  _ rather be kissing Jade than doing chores. 

“Hey, Vega,” Jade said thoughtfully, interrupting her thoughts. 

“Yeah, Jade?” she asked mildly.

“Does this make you a witch?” the older girl questioned with a smirk.

Tori raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, Jade?” she whined. “I thought this helped you! That means you’re not supposed to tease me about it,” she pouted. 

“No, it did help and I’m not teasing. But I was thinking,” she said, taking a predatory step closer as her hands re-planted themselves on Tori’s hips. 

“W--what about?” Tori stammered, mesmerized by her soft, full lips so close to her own and the sensations of her fingers once again drawing patterns through her shirt. 

Jade leaned in, breath tickling Tori’s ear as she involuntarily shuddered. “If you’re a witch, you can pretend to be boiling me for soup tomorrow,” she breathed into her ear, her voice barely above a whisper. And really, Tori would have had to have been superhuman not to let out a slight moan at that, right? 

As soon as she did, Jade smirked and released her, casually grabbing one of the buckets of water and pouring it over the fire as Tori tried to regain herself, wondering if this is what dating Jade West would always look like. 

“Jade!” she cried out in frustration, unable to keep the smile from playing on her lips despite her annoyance. 

As Jade worked to make sure the fire was completely out, Tori said a silent prayer to thank whoever might be listening and had helped them. 

And as Jade was finally satisfied the fire was completely out and approached her, she said another one. 

You can never be too careful when it comes to love  _ or  _ magic, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Please review! And come scream with me about Jori @ hyperfocus_museum!
> 
> Series title taken from _Low Red Moon_ by **Belly**


End file.
